Construction Network Inc.

Sean Stem thought his company was being held back because of its name: Builders of Jonesboro.

“Just having the ‘Jonesboro’ in the name seemed to tie us to this area,” Stem said.

So in 1998, the company’s name was changed to Construction Network Inc. of Jonesboro.

Stem’s father had started the company in 1974 and named it after himself: George Stem Construction. It became Builders of Jonesboro in the early 1990s and throughout the years focused on residential construction.

“That’s where my dad had started, and that’s where I had my start,” Stem said.

But Sean Stem said he wanted to build commercial projects. The general contractor shifted into that specialty after the name change.
“At the time, we were doing a lot of competitive bid work,” Stem said. “Of course, the margins aren’t there, so we were trying to establish ourselves.”

The company then started taking off.

It won bids for the Delta Rivers Nature Center in Pine Bluff in 2001 and projects on the campus of Arkansas State University at Jonesboro. It also completed jobs in 10 states.

“Instead of bidding on everything, we finally found where we best fit,” said Stem, the company’s president. His father is CEO.

The company now focuses on schools, churches and medical facilities.

In 2006, the company’s revenue was about $18 million. In 2007, revenue dipped to about $13.5 million and then returned to the $18 million range in 2008, Stem said.

The success of Construction Network, which has a staff of 40, depends on “always making the customer first,” Stem said, “and always do what we said we were going to do.”

The firm keeps construction projects on a tight schedule and within budget, said Perry Winn, the project manager for the company.
“We pride ourselves on that,” Winn said. “And I feel if we don’t do that, then we’re not succeeding.”